This is Mike Hussey (Uncle Huss) making an entry into Caleb’s & Luke’s blog. After walking with them for a day, they invited me to post some comments about the experience.

First of all I would like to thank Luke & Caleb for slowing down on that day so that this out-of-shape 52-year-old could share in their Appalachian Trail (AT) walk. It is an experience I will remember for a long time.

I really enjoyed the company, walking, scenery, wildlife, and time away from work. In the one day of walking I was able to see the second largest Oak tree on the AT (see the picture), wildlife (up close and personal), and beautiful views of the Virginia mountains. I really envy the two of you taking on this walk. It has always been a dream of mine to walk the entire AT. Maybe I’ll walk it when I retire.

I have to share more of the wildlife story that Luke was only able to touch on. Walking along the ridge that is known as Sinking Creek Mountain near Bruiser’s Knob, the terrain gets very rocky. The trail traverses large boulders on the top of the ridge. We were walking single file with Caleb in the lead, Michael second, Mike third, and Luke fourth and last. We were going through a passage between two large boulders and having to step up onto another. Caleb comes out of the passage and steps up on the next boulder uneventfully. Michael is about 5 feet behind him and as soon as he tops the boulder we all hear the rattle. Michael steps to the right and both he and I yell “rattlesnake!” We both look right where the noise is coming from but do not see it. It blended in very well with the boulder, leaves, and sticks. After about 5 seconds we both see this 2 and a half foot fat snake laying out straight with his rattle up in the air. We are now all out of the snakes “warning zone” and he stops rattling. Caleb comes back to see what he just stepped over and Luke is trying to look through the passage and around me to see the snake. The snake does not coil or move. From the girth of his body, we determine he must have eaten recently.

Since the snake is not coiling or moving, I decide to get up where Michael is on the boulder. I feel I am well out of striking distance and will be able to stay out of his “warning zone.” As I step up on the boulder I do indeed enter the snakes “warning zone” again and he begins to rattle. Quickly I am up where Michael is and the snake stops rattling. Luke is still in the passage and decides to bang his walking sticks together to get the snake off the trail so he can join us and we can continue on the trail. Instead of going away from the noise he heads toward it. (Snakes do not have external ears but recent research indicates they can hear.) The snake is moving slow but eventually leaves the trail prior to reaching Luke. Before he leaves we get pictures. Michael will post a picture or two when he gets a chance.

After seeing the snake, we were all looking more carefully at the trail in front of our feet. Unfortunately, that set us up for our next scare. About five minutes after leaving the snake, we were walking next to a boulder that tops out at about the height of our heads. Our internal “scarometers” were now set on hypersensitive because of the snake. Suddenly we heard this loud sound, “whump, whump, whump, whump” to our immediate left. We all ducked, put our arms up to cover our heads, dodged over to the right, and screamed like school girls. Oh, it was a sight to see. However, while we were screaming, we did manage to see through our arms that a buzzard that had been perched on a branch on the other side of the boulder just out of site, decided to take off when we were right next to him. Since we are looking down at the trail making sure we didn’t have any more close encounters with snakes, we didn’t notice the buzzard. He scared us half to death. Once we realized it was just a buzzard trying to get away from us and how silly we must have looked, we all started to laugh heartily at ourselves and each other.

I have one more interesting encounter with wildlife to share. About 15 minutes from our campsite for the night, we stopped at a shelter that had a privy (outhouse). Michael had to use the facilities so he grabbed the toilet paper and headed over to the privy. The rest of us were all talking and sharing our rattlesnake and buzzard stories with Carolina (another through hiker). Three minutes later I looked up toward the privy and Michael was walking around it instead of being in it. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was looking for a long stick so he could get a 4 foot black snake out of the privy. We all laughed, Luke grabbed his camera, and ran over to the privy to get pictures. There indeed was a snake in the privy but all the commotion and paparazzi scared him down a hole under the privy. At that point everyone felt they could wait for the next privy or a least a choice spot in the woods.

Once again Luke & Caleb, thanks for letting me walk with you for a day on your AT adventure. It was an unbelievable experience and will be cherished for a long time. On to Katadin!!!